Salon Says AtheistTV is a Grim Experience

There’s a new streaming channel for atheists called AtheistTV. Daniel D’Addario at Salonwatched four hours worth and found it to be too much for a non-believer to take:

after watching four hours of its programming and even despite my own
lack of religious belief, I find it hard to imagine that even a casual
nonbeliever would tune in, let alone someone on the fence about the
existence of a higher power. AtheistTV adheres to nasty stereotypes
about atheism — smugness, gleeful disregard for others’ beliefs — to a
degree that’s close to unwatchable.

After a description of what sounds like a truly terrible call-in show, D’Addario continues:

AtheistTV frames atheism as a perpetual reaction against a conquering
force. And that reaction isn’t reasoned debate. It’s
unattractive nihilism…Beyond the catharsis of mockery, what can AtheistTV offer? What
alternative does it provide?

It’s a good question. So far the answer seems to be not much.

To be fair, I remember watching the Sci-Fi channel in the early days. It was pretty terrible too. I mean here’s the sort of thing they were doing on launch day:

Sure it was bad back then but look at how far they’ve come. Now we’re getting original masterpieces like Sharnado 2: The Second One. Okay, maybe that’s not the best example.

The point is that by 2035 AtheistTV could be far more watchable if, like the renamed SyFy channel, it can overcome the twin killers of “unattractive nihilism” and poor production values. Only one of those problems can be overcome with money.